tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347628392017-06-15T18:16:12.374-05:00Sun RayLearning how to be aware of the hidden variables of lifeTyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-39234674000358085162014-11-20T16:11:00.002-06:002014-11-20T16:11:13.358-06:00“There is no self.”<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 38px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><br /></h2><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">The Buddha was careful to classify questions according to how they should be answered, based on how helpful they were to gaining awakening. Some questions deserved a categorical answer, that is, one that holds true across the board. Some he answered analytically, redefining or refining the terms before answering. Some required counter-questioning, to clarify the issue in the questioner’s mind. But if the question was an obstacle on the path, the Buddha put it aside.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">When Vacchagotta the wanderer asked him point-blank whether or not there is a self, the Buddha remained silent, which means that the question has no helpful answer. As he later explained to Ananda, to respond either yes or no to this question would be to side with opposite extremes of wrong view (<em>Samyutta Nikaya</em>&nbsp;44.10). Some have argued that the Buddha didn’t answer with “no” because Vacchagotta wouldn’t have understood the answer. But there’s another passage where the Buddha advises all the monks to avoid getting involved in questions such as “What am I?” “Do I exist?” “Do I not exist?” because they lead to answers like “I have a self” and “I have no self,” both of which are a “thicket of views, a writhing of views, a contortion of views” that get in the way of awakening (<em>Majjhima Nikaya</em>&nbsp;2).</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">So how did we get the idea that the Buddha said that there is no self? The main culprit seems to be the debate culture of ancient India. Religious teachers often held public debates on the hot questions of the day, both to draw adherents and to angle for royal patronage. The Buddha warned his followers not to enter into these debates (<em>Sutta Nipata</em>&nbsp;4.8), partly because once the sponsor of a debate had set a question, the debaters couldn’t follow the Buddha’s policy of putting useless questions aside.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">Later generations of monks forgot the warning and soon found themselves in debates where they had to devise a Buddhist answer to the question of whether there is or isn’t a self. The<em>Kathavatthu</em>, an Abhidhamma text attributed to the time of King Ashoka, contains the earliest extant version of the answer “no.” Two popular literary works, the&nbsp;<em>Buddhacharita</em>and&nbsp;<em>Milinda Panha</em>, both from around the first century CE, place this “no” at the center of the Buddha’s message. Later texts, like the&nbsp;<em>Abhidharmakosha Bhashya</em>, provide analytical answers to the question of whether there is a self, saying that there’s no personal self but that each person has a “dharma-self” composed of five aggregates: material form, feelings, perceptions, mental fabrications, and consciousness. At present we have our own analytical answers to the question, such as the teaching that although we have no separate self, we do have a cosmic self—a teaching, by the way, that the Buddha singled out for special ridicule (<em>MN</em>&nbsp;22).</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">“There is no self” is the granddaddy of fake Buddhist quotes. It has survived so long because of its superficial resemblance to the teaching on&nbsp;<em>anatta</em>, or not-self, which was one of the Buddha’s tools for putting an end to clinging. Even though he neither affirmed nor denied the existence of a self, he did talk of the process by which the mind creates many senses of self—what he called “I-making” and “my-making”—as it pursues its desires.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">In other words, he focused on the karma of selfing. Because clinging lies at the heart of suffering, and because there’s clinging in each sense of self, he advised using the perception of not-self as a strategy to dismantle that clinging. Whenever you see yourself identifying with anything stressful and inconstant, you remind yourself that it’s not-self: not worth clinging to, not worth calling your self (<em>SN</em>&nbsp;22.59). This helps you let go of it. When you do this thoroughly enough, it can lead to awakening. In this way, the not-self teaching is an answer—not to the question of whether there’s a self, but to the question that the Buddha said lies at the heart of discernment: “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” (<em>MN</em>&nbsp;135). You find true happiness by letting go.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">Some ways of selfing, the Buddha and his disciples found, are useful along the path, as when you develop a sense of self that’s heedful and responsible, confident that you can manage the practice (<em>Anguttara Nikaya</em>&nbsp;4.159). While you’re on the path, you apply the perception of not-self to anything that would pull you astray. Only at the end do you apply that perception to the path itself. As for the goal, it’s possible to develop a sense of clinging around the experience of the deathless, so the Buddha advises that you regard even the deathless as not-self (<em>AN</em>&nbsp;9.36). But when there’s no more clinging, you have no need for perceptions either of self or not-self. You see no point in answering the question of whether there is or isn’t a self because you’ve found the ultimate happiness.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">The belief that there is no self can actually get in the way of awakening. As the Buddha noted, the contemplation of not-self can lead to an experience of nothingness (<em>MN</em>&nbsp;106). If your purpose in practicing is to disprove the self—perhaps from wanting to escape the responsibilities of having a self—you can easily interpret the experience of nothingness as the proof you’re looking for: a sign you’ve reached the end of the path. Yet the Buddha warned that subtle clinging can persist in that experience. If you think you’ve reached awakening, you won’t look for the clinging. But if you learn to keep looking for clinging, even in the experience of nothingness, you’ll have a chance of finding it. Only when you find it can you then let it go.</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;">So it’s important to remember which questions the not-self teaching was meant to answer and which ones it wasn’t. Getting clear on this point can mean the difference between a false awakening and the real thing.<br /><br /><strong>Thanissaro Bhikkhu</strong>&nbsp;is the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery&nbsp;</div><div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.6000003814697px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><a href="http://www.tricycle.com/what-buddha-never-said/there-no-self" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Source</a></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-56093827699988045202011-04-02T11:34:00.000-05:002011-04-02T11:34:42.848-05:0050 Questions That Will Free Your Mind<a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/07/13/50-questions-that-will-free-your-mind/">50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind</a><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px; "><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; ">These questions have no right or wrong answers.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; ">Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.</p><ol style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Which is worse, failing or never trying?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2008/11/03/10-reasons-you-are-rich/" title="10 Reasons You Are Rich" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(28, 155, 220); text-decoration: none; ">make you rich</a>?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Would you break the law to save a loved one?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What’s something you know you do differently than most people?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/04/20/when-our-stories-hold-us-back/" title="When Our Stories Hold Us Back" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(28, 155, 220); text-decoration: none; ">What’s holding you back?</a></li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Why are you, you?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What are you most grateful for?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Has your greatest fear ever come true?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If not now, then when?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Have you ever <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/06/01/the-art-of-being-naked/" title="The Art of Being Naked" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(28, 155, 220); text-decoration: none; ">been with someone</a>, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What is the difference between being alive and <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/04/13/how-to-live-life/" title="How To Live Life" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(28, 155, 220); text-decoration: none; ">truly living</a>?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">In 5 years from now, <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/06/29/how-to-make-today-memorable/" title="How To Make Today Memorable" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(28, 155, 220); text-decoration: none; ">will you remember</a> what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?</li><li style="padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?</li></ol><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; ">Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.</p></span></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-36053458606824662512011-03-30T10:13:00.000-05:002011-03-30T10:13:54.809-05:00286 - The New World Order (1942) | Strange Maps | Big Think<a href="http://bigthink.com/ideas/21338">286 - The New World Order (1942) | Strange Maps | Big Think</a><div><br /></div><div>very interesting piece of history</div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-33289696704667291142011-03-18T18:38:00.000-05:002011-03-18T18:38:55.671-05:00Quote Details: Emiliano Zapata: It is better to... - The Quotations Page<a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2208.html">Quote Details: Emiliano Zapata: It is better to... - The Quotations Page</a><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; "><dt style="font-size: 17px; ">It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.</dt><dd class="author" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 4em; "><b><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Emiliano_Zapata/" style="color: navy; ">Emiliano Zapata</a></b><br /><i>Mexican reformer &amp; revolutionary (1877 - 1919)</i></dd><dd class="author" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 4em; "><i><br /></i></dd><dd class="author" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 4em; ">a lot of do jobs and school that we have to do as we're told, but just remember as your nodding your head yes that you understand what you are being told, to think in the back of your head, how you will be free and think independently, even while following orders</dd></span></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-64584721613522142392011-03-07T18:24:00.000-06:002011-03-07T18:24:34.370-06:00'I won't pay' movement spreads across Greece - Business - World business - msnbc.com<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41723432/ns/business-world_business/">'I won't pay' movement spreads across Greece - Business - World business - msnbc.com</a><div><br /></div><div>best non-violent resistance I've seen so far</div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-52462036747670042072011-03-02T22:51:00.000-06:002011-03-02T22:51:36.826-06:00Confused Supreme Court to decide on vaccine suits | Reuters<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/13/us-vaccine-court-idUSTRE69B3N220101013">Confused Supreme Court to decide on vaccine suits | Reuters</a><div><br /></div><div>people cant sue vaccine companies, even if they get sick from the vaccine</div><div><br /></div><div>companies could put hydroxide in the vaccines and still be immune from lawsuits and litigation??? </div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-5946065695005147352011-02-26T11:25:00.000-06:002011-02-26T11:25:13.194-06:00YouTube - Head-bang skole korps - Rage Against the Machine<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCL6NXePDcI&amp;feature=player_embedded#at=36">YouTube - Head-bang skole korps - Rage Against the Machine</a><div><br /></div><div>bulls on parade in the school band </div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-74720848423232256172011-02-24T08:50:00.000-06:002011-02-24T08:50:22.040-06:00Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? | Rolling Stone Politics<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216">Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? | Rolling Stone Politics</a><div><br /></div><div>matt is probably protected for publishing this, because the guys on the top as mentioned in the article know they can get away with it. too many good video games, tv shows, movies for the younger generation to do something about it. </div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-49747499381634838302011-02-21T19:57:00.000-06:002011-02-21T19:57:47.476-06:00Haiku<a href="http://www.hermanvanrompuy.be/haiku/page/3/">Haiku</a>: <div><br /></div><div>"Snow<br />Eight calls in the snow<br />an owl suddenly pierces the silence.<br />A strange bird."<div><br /></div><div>lol @ President of European Union</div></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-19733570915061070422011-02-20T18:53:00.000-06:002011-02-20T18:53:27.646-06:00YouTube - 2011 Dodge Charger Commercial | "Slippery Slope" | Never Neutral<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWy6A6bLSW0&amp;feature=relmfu">YouTube - 2011 Dodge Charger Commercial | "Slippery Slope" | Never Neutral</a>\<div><br /></div><div>very interesting i doubt we will see very much of this ad on tv, but it's nice to see a large corporate company make some social commentary</div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-19006482109741285502011-02-20T10:26:00.000-06:002011-02-20T10:26:09.455-06:00Boy born without cerebellum a ‘mystery’ to doctors - Healthzone.ca<a href="http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/940158--boy-born-without-cerebellum-a-mystery-to-doctors">Boy born without cerebellum a ‘mystery’ to doctors - Healthzone.ca</a><div><br /></div><div>pretty interesting, seems science still has a few mysteries to unravel </div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-81100912810149576322009-05-30T18:24:00.002-05:002009-05-30T18:42:24.795-05:00Breakfast at McDonald's<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SiHEVUwdJXI/AAAAAAAAAWM/qp6udnAY2_g/s1600-h/c030bp2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SiHEVUwdJXI/AAAAAAAAAWM/qp6udnAY2_g/s400/c030bp2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341766503666361714" border="0" /></a><br />from an email i got today...<br /><br />Breakfast at McDonald's<br />this is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!):<br />I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.<br />The last class I had to take was Sociology.<br />The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.<br />Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'<br />The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.<br />I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake,<br /><br />literally.<br />Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.<br />It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.<br />We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then<br />even my husband did.<br />I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.<br />As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.<br />As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'<br />His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.<br />He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.<br />The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.<br />i held my tears as I stood there with them.<br />The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.<br /><br />He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).<br />Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.<br />That is when I noticed all eyes in the<br /><br />restaurant were set on me, judging<br />my every action.<br />I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.<br /><br />I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.<br />He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'<br />I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'<br />I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'<br />We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.<br /><br />We are not church goers, but we are believers.<br />That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.<br />I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.<br />I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.<br />then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'<br />I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.<br />She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.<br />In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son,the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.<br />I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:<br />UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.<br />Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to<br />LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS -<br /><br />NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.<br />There is an Angel sent to watch over you.<br />In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.<br />An Angel wrote:<br /><br />Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart<br /><br />To handle yourself, use your head..<br /><br />To handle others, use your heart.<br /><br />God Gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into its nest.Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-91876018770719151252009-04-09T23:04:00.002-05:002009-04-09T23:07:13.547-05:00The Cucumber Sage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/Sd7FuMLkPiI/AAAAAAAAAT8/qBi91EGwCLg/s1600-h/Bonsai-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/Sd7FuMLkPiI/AAAAAAAAAT8/qBi91EGwCLg/s400/Bonsai-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322909206932897314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Introduction To Ch'an At Nan Hua<br /> <br /><br />The Cucumber Sage <br /> <br /><br /> <br /> <br /><br />THE RECORD OF THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF WU-MING<br /><br />Compiled by Master Tung-Wang<br />Abbott of Han-hsin monastery in the<br />Thirteenth year of the Earth Dragon period (898)<br /><br />My dear friend, the most reverend master Tung-Wang,<br /><br />Old and ill, I lay here knowing that writing this note will be my last act upon this earth and that by the time you read it I will be gone from this life.<br /><br />Though we have not seen each other in the many years since we studied together under our most venerable Master, I have often thought of you, his most worthy successor. Monks from throughout China say that you are a true lion of the Buddha Dharma; one whose eye is a shooting star, whose hands snatch lightning, and whose voice booms like thunder. It is said that your every action shakes heaven and earth and causes the elephants and dragons of delusion to scatter helplessly. I am told that your monastery is unrivaled in severity, and that under your exacting guidance hundreds of monks pursue their training with utmost zeal and vigor. I've also heard that in the enlightened successor department your luck has not been so good. Which brings me to the point of this letter.<br /><br />I ask that you now draw your attention to the young man to whom this note is attached. As he stands before you, no doubt smiling stupidly as he stuffs himself with pickled cucumbers, you may be wondering if he is as complete a fool as he appears, and if so, what prompted me to send him to you. In answer to the first question, I assure you that Wu-Ming's foolishness is far more complete than mere appearance would lead you to believe. As for the second question, I can only say that despite so benumbed a condition, or perhaps because of it, still more likely, despite of and because of it, Wu-Ming seems to unwittingly and accidentally serve the function of a great Bodhisattva. Perhaps he can be of service to you.<br /><br />Allow him sixteen hours of sleep daily and provide him with lots of pickled cucumbers and Wu-Ming will always be happy. Expect nothing of him and you will be happy.<br /><br /><br />Respectfully,<br />Chin-Mang<br />After Chin-mang's funeral, the supporters of his temple arranged for Wu-Ming's journey to Han-hsin monastery, where I resided, then, as now, as Abbott. A monk found Wu-ming at the monastery gate and seeing a note bearing my name pinned to his robe, led him to my quarters.<br /><br />Customarily, when first presenting himself to the Abbott, a newly arrived monk will prostrate himself three times and ask respectfully to be accepted as a student. And so I was taken somewhat by surprise when Wu-ming walked into the room, took a pickled cucumber from the jar under his arm, stuffed it whole into his mouth, and happily munching away, broke into the toothless imbecilic grin that would one day become legendary. Taking a casual glance around the room, he smacked his lips loudly and said, "What's for lunch?"<br /><br />After reading dear old Chin Mang's note, I called in the head monk and asked that he show my new student to the monk's quarters. When they had gone I reflected on chin-mang's words. Han-hsin was indeed a most severe place of training: winters were bitterly cold and in summer the sun blazed. The monks slept no more than three hours each night and ate one simple meal each day. For the remainder of the day they worked hard around the monastery and practiced hard in the meditation hall. But, alas, Chin-mang had heard correctly, Among all my disciples there was none whom I felt confident to be a worthy vessel to receive the untransmittable transmitted Dharma. I was beginning to despair that I would one day, bereft of even one successor, fail to fulfill my obligation of seeing my teacher's Dharma-linage continued.<br /><br />The monks could hardly be faulted for complacency or indolence. Their sincere aspiration and disciplined effort were admirable indeed, and many had attained great clarity of wisdom. But they were preoccupied with their capacity for harsh discipline and proud of their insight. They squabbled with one another for positions of prestige and power and vied amongst themselves for recognition. Jealousy, rivalry and ambition seemed to hang like a dark cloud over Han-shin monastery, sucking even the most wise and sincere into its obscuring haze. Holding Chin-mang's note before me, I hoped and prayed that this Wu-ming, this "accidental Bodhisattva" might be the yeast my recipe seemed so much in need of.<br /><br />To my astonished pleasure, Wu-ming took to life at Han-shin like a duck to water. At my request, he was assigned a job in the kitchen pickling vegetables. This he pursued tirelessly, and with a cheerful earnestness he gathered and mixed ingredients, lifted heavy barrels, drew and carried water, and, of course, freely sampled his workmanship. He was delighted!<br /><br />When the monks assembled in the meditation hall, they would invariably find Wu-ming seated in utter stillness, apparently in deep and profound samadhi. No one even guessed that the only thing profound about Wu-ming's meditation was the profound unlikelihood that he might find the meditation posture, legs folded into the lotus position, back erect and centered, to be so wonderfully conducive to the long hours of sleep he so enjoyed.<br /><br />Day after day and month after month, as the monks struggled to meet the physical and spiritual demands of monastery life, Wu-ming, with a grin and a whistle, sailed through it all effortlessly. Even though, if the truth be told, Wu-ming's Zen practice was without the slightest merit, by way of outward appearance he was judged by all to be a monk of great accomplishment and perfect discipline. Of course . I could have dispelled this misconception easily enough, but I sensed that Wu-ming's unique brand of magic was taking effect and I was not about to throw away this most absurdly skillful of means.<br /><br />By turns the monks were jealous, perplexed, hostile, humbled and inspired by what they presumed to be Wu-ming's great attainment. Of course it never occurred to Wu-ming that his or anyone else's behavior required such judgments, for they are the workings of a far more sophisticated nature than his own mind was capable. Indeed, everything about him was so obvious and simple that others thought him unfathomably subtle.<br /><br />Wu-ming's inscrutable presence had a tremendously unsettling effect on the lives of the monks, and undercut the web of rationalizations that so often accompanies such upset. His utter obviousness rendered him unintelligible and immune to the social pretensions of others. Attempts of flattery and invectives alike were met with the same uncomprehending grin, a grin the monks felt to be the very cutting edge of the sword of Perfect Wisdom. Finding no relief or diversion in such interchange, they were forced to seek out the source and resolution of their anguish each within his own mind. More importantly, and absurdly, Wu-ming caused to arise in the monks the unconquerable determination to fully penetrate the teaching "The Great Way is without difficulty" which they felt he embodied.<br /><br />Though in the course of my lifetime I have encountered many of the most venerable progenitors of the Tathagata's teaching, never have I met one so skilled at awakening others to their intrinsic Buddhahood as this wonderful fool Wu-ming. His spiritual non-sequiturs were as sparks, lighting the flame of illuminating wisdom in the minds of many who engaged him in dialogue.<br /><br />Once a monk approached Wu-ming and asked in all earnestness, "In the whole universe, what is it that is most wonderful?" Without hesitation Wu-ming stuck a cucumber before the monks face and exclaimed, "There is nothing more wonderful than this!" At that the monk crashed through the dualism of subject and object, "The whole universe is pickled cucumber; a pickled cucumber is the whole universe!" Wu-ming simply chuckled and said, "Stop talking nonsense. A cucumber is a cucumber; the whole universe is the whole universe. What could be more obvious?" The monk, penetrating the perfect phenomenal manifestation of Absolute Truth, clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "Throughout infinite space, everything is deliciously sour!"<br /><br />On another occasion a monk asked Wu-ming, "The Third Patriarch said, "The Great Way is without difficulty, just cease having preferences." How can you then delight in eating cucumbers, yet refuse to even take one bit of a carrot?" Wu-ming said, "I love cucumbers; I hate carrots!" The monk lurched back as though struck by a thunderbolt. Then laughing and sobbing and dancing about he exclaimed, "Liking cucumbers and hating carrots is without difficulty, just cease preferring the Great Way!"<br /><br />Within three years of his arrival, the stories of the "Great Bodhisattva of Han-hsin monastery" had made their way throughout the provinces of China. Knowing of Wu-ming's fame I was not entirely surprised when a messenger from the Emperor appeared summoning Wu-ming to the Imperial Palace immediately.<br /><br />From throughout the Empire exponents of the Three Teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism were being called to the Capitol, there the Emperor would proclaim one to be the true religion to be practiced and preached in all lands under his rule. The idea of such competition for Imperial favor is not to my approval and the likelihood that a religious persecution might follow troubled me greatly. But an order from the Emperor is not to be ignored, so Wu-ming and I set out the next day.<br /><br />Inside the Great Hall were gathered the more than one hundred priests and scholars who were to debate one another. They were surrounded by the most powerful lords in all China, along with innumerable advisors, of the Son of Heaven. All at once trumpets blared, cymbals crashed, and clouds of incense billowed up everywhere. The Emperor, borne on by a retinue of guards, was carried to the throne. After due formalities were observed the Emperor signaled for the debate to begin.<br /><br />Several hours passed as one after another priests and scholars came forward presenting their doctrines and responding to questions. Through it all Wu-ming sat obliviously content as he stuffed himself with his favorite food. When his supply was finished, he happily crossed his legs, straightened his back and closed his eyes. But the noise and commotion were too great and, unable to sleep, he grew more restless and irritable by the minute. As I clasped him firmly by the back of the neck in an effort to restrain him, the Emperor gestured to Wu-ming to approach the Throne.<br /><br />When Wu-ming had come before him, the Emperor said, "Throughout the land you are praised as a Bodhisattva whose mind is like the Great Void itself, yet you have not had a word to offer this assembly. Therefore I say to you now, teach me the True Way that all under heaven must follow." Wu-ming said nothing. After a few moments the Emperor, with a note of impatience, spoke again, "Perhaps you do not hear well so I shall repeat myself! Teach me the True Way that all under heaven must follow!" Still Wu-ming said nothing, and silence rippled through the crowd as all strained forward to witness this monk who dared behave so bold a fashion in the Emperor's presence.<br /><br />Wu-ming heard nothing the Emperor said, nor did he notice the tension that vibrated through the hall. All that concerned him was his wish to find a nice quiet place where he could sleep undisturbed. The Emperor spoke again, his voice shaking with fury, his face flushed with anger: "You have been summoned to this council to speak on behalf of the Buddhist teaching. Your disrespect will not be tolerated much longer. I shall ask one more time, and should you fail to answer, I assure you the consequence shall be most grave. Teach me the True Way that all under heaven must follow!" Without a word Wu-ming turned and, as all looked on in dumbfounded silence, he made his way down the aisle and out the door. There was a hush of stunned disbelief before the crowd erupted into an uproar of confusion. Some were applauding Wu-ming's brilliant demonstration of religious insight, while others rushed about in an indignant rage, hurling threats and abuses at the doorway he had just passed through. Not knowing whether to praise Wu-ming or to have him beheaded, the Emperor turned to his advisors, but they were none the wiser. Finally, looking out at the frantic anarchy to which his grand debate had been reduced, the Emperor must surely have realized that no matter what Wu-ming's intentions might have been, there was now only one way to avoid the debate becoming a most serious embarrassment.<br /><br />"The great sage of Han-hsin monastery has skillfully demonstrated that the great Tao cannot be confined by doctrines, but is best expounded through harmonious action. Let us profit by the wisdom he has so compassionately shared, and each endeavor to make our every step one that unites heaven and earth in accord with the profound and subtle Tao."<br /><br />Having thus spoken the Son of Heaven concluded the Great Debate.<br /><br />I immediately ran out to find Wu-ming, but he had disappeared in the crowded streets of the capitol.<br /><br />Ten years have since passed, and I have seen nothing of him. However, on occasion a wandering monk will stop at Han-hsin with some bit of news. I am told that Wu-ming has been wandering about the countryside this past decade, trying unsuccessfully to find his way home. Because of his fame he is greeted and cared for in all quarters with generous kindness; however, those wishing to help him on his journey usually find that they have been helped on their own.<br /><br />One young monk told of an encounter in which Wu-ming asked him, "Can you tell me where my home is?" Confused as to the spirit of the question. The monk replied, "Is the home you speak of to be found in the relative world of time and place, or do you mean the Original Home of all pervading Buddha nature?"<br /><br />After pausing a moment to consider the question, Wu-ming looked up and, grinning as only he is capable, said, "Yes."Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-37355584306220981842009-02-19T22:33:00.000-06:002009-02-19T22:33:51.578-06:00Ramana darshan<div style='text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;'><a href='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SZ4yr1B5KXI/AAAAAAAAAOo/Btal_bYlvI4/s1600-h/rest-42_1.jpg'><img src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SZ4yr1B5KXI/AAAAAAAAAOo/Btal_bYlvI4/s320/rest-42_1.jpg' border='0' alt='' /></a>&nbsp;</div><br /><br />happy shivarathri<br /><br />om namah shivaya<div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-41149341719909537772009-01-11T18:56:00.000-06:002009-01-11T18:56:28.734-06:00Mad World<div style='text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;'><a href='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SWqVPOygL7I/AAAAAAAAAHo/pW4WXLEw_YM/s1600-h/l_772311af041b631d5fdf98d730fca1c6.jpg'><img src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SWqVPOygL7I/AAAAAAAAAHo/pW4WXLEw_YM/s320/l_772311af041b631d5fdf98d730fca1c6.jpg' border='0' alt='' /></a>&nbsp;</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-5752634537723452702008-12-30T22:31:00.000-06:002008-12-30T22:31:23.107-06:00zen quote<div style='text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;'><a href='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SVr1mkFAZMI/AAAAAAAAAHI/rvyn8Rj_HcI/s1600-h/ATgAAACV8-UAm0CgDK_nRIL0nStJqKwgmol_QEIZLtYueUOH6QqEf0AWHS_W4xPQ9VrlI1vyXxgBH3JoPqnjurUglbYbAJtU9VAeYAkqRaPmK-pCRPc7pccvqv2goA.jpg'><img src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SVr1mkFAZMI/AAAAAAAAAHI/rvyn8Rj_HcI/s320/ATgAAACV8-UAm0CgDK_nRIL0nStJqKwgmol_QEIZLtYueUOH6QqEf0AWHS_W4xPQ9VrlI1vyXxgBH3JoPqnjurUglbYbAJtU9VAeYAkqRaPmK-pCRPc7pccvqv2goA.jpg' border='0' alt='' /></a>&nbsp;</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-74021390379979070342008-12-30T22:28:00.000-06:002008-12-30T22:28:52.220-06:00spiritual quote<div style='text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;'><a href='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SVr1A3iOMkI/AAAAAAAAAHA/uVLRvxI5PAs/s1600-h/161208065_c99e838ab2.jpg'><img src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SVr1A3iOMkI/AAAAAAAAAHA/uVLRvxI5PAs/s320/161208065_c99e838ab2.jpg' border='0' alt='' /></a>&nbsp;</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-14480639283854208832008-12-21T13:53:00.001-06:002008-12-21T13:55:28.565-06:00What is A me or An i - The i-conceptfrom Binduji<br /><br /><br />Dear friends,<br />><br />><br />><br />> Namaste ----<br />><br />><br />><br />> What is "A me" how can a "me" be separate from all else. hence all is<br />> happening to no one named "me" .. it is ALL happening "AS" existence; this<br />> does not mean that what seems to be happening to what seems to be me is or<br />> can be separated from the whole i.e. my seeming existence or seeming<br />> specialness is no more or less important than a mote of dust or the earth<br />> itself .<br />><br />><br />><br />> All these beings are modes of the light of the conscious Self (what the<br />> yogis call the ParaAtma or supreme Self or Krishna\Siva\Visnu ) appearing<br />as<br />> such due to the light of said Self shining thru the layers (Vasanas) or<br />> construct of experience that the mind likes to call "me - i" .. This, let<br />us<br />> call it modulating principal (karma in yogic terms) makes a being what it<br />is<br />> but it is not the being; nor does the karma belong to the being it merely<br />> modulates the experience of existence that the Self in back of the mind of<br />a<br />> given being is having thru that mind or being much like light is changed<br />by<br />> colored plastic when shone thru it. it is the same light but colored by<br />the<br />> plastic . lookup prism @ wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prism<br />><br />> The mind could be likened to a prism -<br />><br />><br />><br />> This pic is from Pink-floyds Dark side of the moon album cover..<br />><br />><br />><br />> <http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~u20lm5/px2013/prism2.gif> See full size image or<br />><br />><br />><br />> The same principal at the root of the mind operates to modulate the<br />> configuration of the cells of the various bodies (e.g. mental, emotional,<br />> and gross physical bodies etc..) thusly the body takes on the size, shape<br />> and health paradigm of the Karmic mind and the life experience of that<br />> configuration goes to maintain that configuration.<br />><br />><br />><br />> The "me" then (regardless as to which being or species it is, or of<br />whether<br />> or not the "me" or "I" is a concept only) is a mode of the Self but is<br />not<br />> the entire Self nor does its existence connote any separate "i" existing<br />as<br />> "me"; rather the existence of a "me" or "i" verifies the existence of The<br />> Self. Else who can it be that is conscious in the absence of "i" ?<br />><br />><br />><br />> In this way the Self is conscious "AS" all beings-plural as they are modes<br />> of That super-conscient Oneness. (Krishna has said: "I am the field and<br />the<br />> actor in all fields") or again it has been said That Siva is free in ALL<br />> modes of His own consciousness.<br />><br />><br />><br />> The statement that "He is free in ALL modes of His own consciousness has<br />> been taken to mean that the free\enlightened (Jivan-Mukta) is free in the<br />> three states of HIS own consciousness vis: waking, dream, and deep sleep;<br />> (as if Jiva had any consciousness to begin with that could be free) No,<br />the<br />> foregoing is an oxymoron since the Jiva has no self who could have a mode<br />of<br />> consciousness of his own. The idea then of the freedom of the Jiva or<br />> enlightenment cannot be realized by said Jiva.<br />><br />><br />><br />> The fact is that The Self (Krishna\Siva\ God etc) is free in all beings as<br />> they are modes of HIS consciousness. so then instead of thinking how<br />> wonderful it is that this or that is happening to a "me" how about<br />> entertaining the idea that all modes (beings and configurations of<br />> consciousness) are awesome and acceptable, even wondrous in The Self: e.g.<br />> accept all beings events and things with even-mindedness (i.e. to put it<br />in<br />> Buddhist terms: Develop the bodhi-chitta or consciousness that All is The<br />> Self).<br />><br />><br />><br />> When you know you don't know .. when you know it is not you who knows -<br />when<br />> you know you cannot know - when the knowing is inexpressible and<br />unthinkable<br />> -- the knowledge that The Self alone knows appears "as" the mind.<br />><br />><br />><br />> With love and respect,<br /> binduTyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-84079615978634722182008-11-12T01:36:00.001-06:002008-11-12T01:37:50.028-06:00Oh CanadaIn 2003, Stephen Harper and Australian Prime Minister John Howard deliver largely identical speeches urging their nations to join George W. Bush's Coalition of the Willing to go to war with Iraq. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/L8YwJC_nBgw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/L8YwJC_nBgw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-75050817103890195582008-10-17T11:21:00.001-05:002008-10-17T11:24:12.060-05:00NY Mother Faces Loss of Foreclosed HomeEarlier this year, Jocelyn Voltaire of Queens, New York lost her oldest son in Iraq. An auction is scheduled for today to sell her foreclosed home. Since news of her story broke, a grassroots effort has sprung up to help.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/17/after_losing_son_in_iraq_ny">Original Transcript</a><br /><br /><object width="511" height="501"><param name="movie" value="http://newsproject.org/player.swf"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="autoStart=false&p_u=http://newsproject.org/node/154&b_u=http://newsproject.org/&title=Foreclosed Home Front: One Mother’s Struggle&vd_id=foreclosedhomefront"></param><embed src="http://newsproject.org/player.swf" FlashVars="autoStart=false&p_u=http://newsproject.org/node/154&b_u=http://newsproject.org/&title=Foreclosed Home Front: One Mother’s Struggle&vd_id=foreclosedhomefront" width="511" height="501" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-76248850064395407202008-10-13T11:39:00.001-05:002008-10-13T11:39:43.654-05:00Re: TaxesSuppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:<br /><br />The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.<br />The fifth would pay $1.<br />The sixth would pay $3.<br />The seventh would pay $7.<br />The eighth would pay $12.<br />The ninth would pay $18.<br />The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.<br /><br />So, that's what they decided to do.<br /><br />The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.<br /><br />The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.<br /><br />And so:<br /><br />The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).<br />The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).<br />The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).<br />The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).<br />The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).<br />The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).<br /><br />Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.<br /><br />"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"<br /><br />"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"<br /><br />"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"<br /><br />"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"<br /><br />The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.<br /><br />The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!<br /><br />And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.<br /><br />David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.<br />Professor of Economics<br />University of GeorgiaTyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-32434235345392497262008-10-11T22:27:00.001-05:002008-10-11T22:34:57.290-05:00Who Owns The Federal Reserve?The Fed is privately owned. Its shareholders are private banks<br /><br />by <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10489">Ellen Brown</a> <br /><br />"Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders."<br /><br />– The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s<br /><br /> <br /><br />The Federal Reserve (or Fed) has assumed sweeping new powers in the last year. In an unprecedented move in March 2008, the New York Fed advanced the funds for JPMorgan Chase Bank to buy investment bank Bear Stearns for pennies on the dollar. The deal was particularly controversial because Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, sits on the board of the New York Fed and participated in the secret weekend negotiations.1 In September 2008, the Federal Reserve did something even more unprecedented, when it bought the world’s largest insurance company. The Fed announced on September 16 that it was giving an $85 billion loan to American International Group (AIG) for a nearly 80% stake in the mega-insurer. The Associated Press called it a "government takeover," but this was no ordinary nationalization. Unlike the U.S. Treasury, which took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the week before, the Fed is not a government-owned agency. Also unprecedented was the way the deal was funded. The Associated Press reported:<br /><br />"The Treasury Department, for the first time in its history, said it would begin selling bonds for the Federal Reserve in an effort to help the central bank deal with its unprecedented borrowing needs."2<br /><br />This is extraordinary. Why is the Treasury issuing U.S. government bonds (or debt) to fund the Fed, which is itself supposedly "the lender of last resort" created to fund the banks and the federal government? Yahoo Finance reported on September 17:<br /><br />"The Treasury is setting up a temporary financing program at the Fed’s request. The program will auction Treasury bills to raise cash for the Fed’s use. The initiative aims to help the Fed manage its balance sheet following its efforts to enhance its liquidity facilities over the previous few quarters."<br /><br />Normally, the Fed swaps green pieces of paper called Federal Reserve Notes for pink pieces of paper called U.S. bonds (the federal government’s I.O.U.s), in order to provide Congress with the dollars it cannot raise through taxes. Now, it seems, the government is issuing bonds, not for its own use, but for the use of the Fed! Perhaps the plan is to swap them with the banks’ dodgy derivatives collateral directly, without actually putting them up for sale to outside buyers. According to Wikipedia (which translates Fedspeak into somewhat clearer terms than the Fed’s own website):<br /><br />"The Term Securities Lending Facility is a 28-day facility that will offer Treasury general collateral to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s primary dealers in exchange for other program-eligible collateral. It is intended to promote liquidity in the financing markets for Treasury and other collateral and thus to foster the functioning of financial markets more generally. . . . The resource allows dealers to switch debt that is less liquid for U.S. government securities that are easily tradable."<br /><br />"To switch debt that is less liquid for U.S. government securities that are easily tradable" means that the government gets the banks’ toxic derivative debt, and the banks get the government’s triple-A securities. Unlike the risky derivative debt, federal securities are considered "risk-free" for purposes of determining capital requirements, allowing the banks to improve their capital position so they can make new loans. (See E. Brown, "Bailout Bedlam," webofdebt.com/articles, October 2, 2008.)<br /><br />In its latest power play, on October 3, 2008, the Fed acquired the ability to pay interest to its member banks on the reserves the banks maintain at the Fed. Reuters reported on October 3:<br /><br />"The U.S. Federal Reserve gained a key tactical tool from the $700 billion financial rescue package signed into law on Friday that will help it channel funds into parched credit markets. Tucked into the 451-page bill is a provision that lets the Fed pay interest on the reserves banks are required to hold at the central bank."3<br /><br />If the Fed’s money comes ultimately from the taxpayers, that means we the taxpayers are paying interest to the banks on the banks’ own reserves – reserves maintained for their own private profit. These increasingly controversial encroachments on the public purse warrant a closer look at the central banking scheme itself. Who owns the Federal Reserve, who actually controls it, where does it get its money, and whose interests is it serving?<br /><br />Not Private and Not for Profit?<br /><br />The Fed’s website insists that it is not a private corporation, is not operated for profit, and is not funded by Congress. But is that true? The Federal Reserve was set up in 1913 as a "lender of last resort" to backstop bank runs, following a particularly bad bank panic in 1907. The Fed’s mandate was then and continues to be to keep the private banking system intact; and that means keeping intact the system’s most valuable asset, a monopoly on creating the national money supply. Except for coins, every dollar in circulation is now created privately as a debt to the Federal Reserve or the banking system it heads.4 The Fed’s website attempts to gloss over its role as chief defender and protector of this private banking club, but let’s take a closer look. The website states:<br /><br />* "The twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were established by Congress as the operating arms of the nation’s central banking system, are organized much like private corporations – possibly leading to some confusion about "ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, 6 percent per year."<br /><br />* "[The Federal Reserve] is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."<br /><br />* "The Federal Reserve’s income is derived primarily from the interest on U.S. government securities that it has acquired through open market operations. . . . After paying its expenses, the Federal Reserve turns the rest of its earnings over to the U.S. Treasury."5<br /><br />So let’s review:<br /><br />1. The Fed is privately owned.<br /><br />Its shareholders are private banks. In fact, 100% of its shareholders are private banks. None of its stock is owned by the government.<br /><br />2. The fact that the Fed does not get "appropriations" from Congress basically means that it gets its money from Congress without congressional approval, by engaging in "open market operations."<br /><br />Here is how it works: When the government is short of funds, the Treasury issues bonds and delivers them to bond dealers, which auction them off. When the Fed wants to "expand the money supply" (create money), it steps in and buys bonds from these dealers with newly-issued dollars acquired by the Fed for the cost of writing them into an account on a computer screen. These maneuvers are called "open market operations" because the Fed buys the bonds on the "open market" from the bond dealers. The bonds then become the "reserves" that the banking establishment uses to back its loans. In another bit of sleight of hand known as "fractional reserve" lending, the same reserves are lent many times over, further expanding the money supply, generating interest for the banks with each loan. It was this money-creating process that prompted Wright Patman, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1960s, to call the Federal Reserve "a total money-making machine." He wrote:<br /><br />"When the Federal Reserve writes a check for a government bond it does exactly what any bank does, it creates money, it created money purely and simply by writing a check."<br /><br />3. The Fed generates profits for its shareholders.<br /><br />The interest on bonds acquired with its newly-issued Federal Reserve Notes pays the Fed’s operating expenses plus a guaranteed 6% return to its banker shareholders. A mere 6% a year may not be considered a profit in the world of Wall Street high finance, but most businesses that manage to cover all their expenses and give their shareholders a guaranteed 6% return are considered "for profit" corporations.<br /><br />In addition to this guaranteed 6%, the banks will now be getting interest from the taxpayers on their "reserves." The basic reserve requirement set by the Federal Reserve is 10%. The website of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York explains that as money is redeposited and relent throughout the banking system, this 10% held in "reserve" can be fanned into ten times that sum in loans; that is, $10,000 in reserves becomes $100,000 in loans. Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.8 puts the total "loans and leases in bank credit" as of September 24, 2008 at $7,049 billion. Ten percent of that is $700 billion. That means we the taxpayers will be paying interest to the banks on at least $700 billion annually – this so that the banks can retain the reserves to accumulate interest on ten times that sum in loans.<br /><br />The banks earn these returns from the taxpayers for the privilege of having the banks’ interests protected by an all-powerful independent private central bank, even when those interests may be opposed to the taxpayers’ -- for example, when the banks use their special status as private money creators to fund speculative derivative schemes that threaten to collapse the U.S. economy. Among other special benefits, banks and other financial institutions (but not other corporations) can borrow at the low Fed funds rate of about 2%. They can then turn around and put this money into 30-year Treasury bonds at 4.5%, earning an immediate 2.5% from the taxpayers, just by virtue of their position as favored banks. A long list of banks (but not other corporations) is also now protected from the short selling that can crash the price of other stocks.<br /><br />Time to Change the Statute?<br /><br />According to the Fed’s website, the control Congress has over the Federal Reserve is limited to this:<br /><br />"[T]he Federal Reserve is subject to oversight by Congress, which periodically reviews its activities and can alter its responsibilities by statute."<br /><br />As we know from watching the business news, "oversight" basically means that Congress gets to see the results when it’s over. The Fed periodically reports to Congress, but the Fed doesn’t ask; it tells. The only real leverage Congress has over the Fed is that it "can alter its responsibilities by statute." It is time for Congress to exercise that leverage and make the Federal Reserve a truly federal agency, acting by and for the people through their elected representatives. If the Fed can demand AIG’s stock in return for an $85 billion loan to the mega-insurer, we can demand the Fed’s stock in return for the trillion-or-so dollars we’ll be advancing to bail out the private banking system from its follies.<br /><br />If the Fed were actually a federal agency, the government could issue U.S. legal tender directly, avoiding an unnecessary interest-bearing debt to private middlemen who create the money out of thin air themselves. Among other benefits to the taxpayers. a truly "federal" Federal Reserve could lend the full faith and credit of the United States to state and local governments interest-free, cutting the cost of infrastructure in half, restoring the thriving local economies of earlier decades.<br /><br />Ellen Brown, J.D., developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In Web of Debt, her latest book, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and "the money trust." She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Her eleven books include the bestselling Nature’s Pharmacy, co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, and Forbidden Medicine. Her websites are www.webofdebt.com and www.ellenbrown.com .Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-84047164514946346222008-10-08T13:58:00.002-05:002008-10-08T14:01:35.417-05:00I Hate Beauty (sort of...)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SO0Dav3HkfI/AAAAAAAAAEg/wpUtkowipb0/s1600-h/12001_susigt_ee_005_122_529lo-599x800.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sq85FnanZR4/SO0Dav3HkfI/AAAAAAAAAEg/wpUtkowipb0/s400/12001_susigt_ee_005_122_529lo-599x800.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254860098270368242" /></a><br />Why I Hate Beauty<br /><br />Men are barraged with images of extraordinarily beautiful and unobtainable women in the media, making it difficult for them to desire the ordinarily beautiful.<br /><br />By: Michael Levine, Hara Estroff Marano<br /><br />Poets rave about beauty. Brave men have started wars over beauty. Women the world over strive for it. Scholars devote their lives to deconstructing our impulse to obtain it. Ordinary mortals erect temples to beauty. In just about every way imaginable, the world honors physical beauty. But I hate beauty.<br /><br />I live in what is likely the beauty capital of the world and have the enviable fortune to work with some of the most beautiful women in it. With their smooth bodies and supple waists, these women are the very picture of youth and attractiveness. Not only are they exemplars of nature's design for detonating desire in men, but they stir yearnings for companionship that date back to ancestral mating dances. Still, beauty is driving me nuts, and although I'm a successful red-blooded American male, divorced and available, it is beauty alone that is keeping me single and lonely.<br /><br />It is scant solace that science is on my side. I seem to have a confirmed case of the contrast effect. It doesn't make me any happier knowing it's afflicting lots of others too.<br /><br />As an author of books on marketing, I have long known about the contrast effect. It is a principle of perception whereby the differences between two things are exaggerated depending on the order in which those things are presented. If you lift a light object and then a heavy object, you will judge the second object heavier than if you had lifted it first or solo.<br /><br />Psychologists Sara Gutierres, Ph.D., and Douglas Kenrick, Ph.D., both of Arizona State University, demonstrated that the contrast effect operates powerfully in the sphere of person-to-person attraction as well. In a series of studies over the past two decades, they have shown that, more than any of us might suspect, judgments of attractiveness (of ourselves and of others) depend on the situation in which we find ourselves. For example, a woman of average attractiveness seems a lot less attractive than she actually is if a viewer has first seen a highly attractive woman. If a man is talking to a beautiful female at a cocktail party and is then joined by a less attractive one, the second woman will seem relatively unattractive.<br /><br />The contrast principle also works in reverse. A woman of average attractiveness will seem more attractive than she is if she enters a room of unattractive women. In other words, context counts.<br /><br />In their very first set of studies, which have been expanded and refined over the years to determine the exact circumstances under which the findings apply and their effects on both men and women, Gutierres and Kenrick asked male college dormitory residents to rate the photo of a potential blind date. (The photos had been previously rated by other males to be of average attractiveness.) If the men were watching an episode of Charlie's Angels when shown the photo, the blind date was rated less desirable than she was by males watching a different show. The initial impressions of romantic partners—women who were actually available to them and likely to be interested in them—were so adversely affected that the men didn't even want to bother.<br /><br />Since these studies, the researchers have found that the contrast effect influences not only our evaluations of strangers but also our views of our own mates. And it sways self-assessments of attractiveness too. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20010701-000023.html">Source</a>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-36516476209297804632008-10-07T01:04:00.002-05:002008-10-07T01:08:19.164-05:00Meditation changes temperatures:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/04.18/photos/10-tumo2-450.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/04.18/photos/10-tumo2-450.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Harvard Gazette report on Tibetan monks who can heat up their bodies at will<br />September 25, 2008 — Stefan Fobes<br /><br /><br />Buddhist monk meditating<br />A Buddhist monk has his vital signs measured as he prepares to enter an advanced state of meditation in Normandy, France. During meditation, the monk’s body produces enough heat to dry cold, wet sheets put over his shoulders in a frigid room (Photo courtesy of Herbert Benson). <br /><br />Mind controls body in extreme experiments<br />By William J. Cromie<br />Gazette Staff<br /><br />In a monastery in northern India, thinly clad Tibetan monks sat quietly in a room where the temperature was a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a yoga technique known as g Tum-mo, they entered a state of deep meditation. Other monks soaked 3-by-6-foot sheets in cold water (49 degrees) and placed them over the meditators’ shoulders. For untrained people, such frigid wrappings would produce uncontrolled shivering.<br /><br />If body temperatures continue to drop under these conditions, death can result. But it was not long before steam began rising from the sheets. As a result of body heat produced by the monks during meditation, the sheets dried in about an hour.<br /><br />Attendants removed the sheets, then covered the meditators with a second chilled, wet wrapping. Each monk was required to dry three sheets over a period of several hours.<br /><br /><a href="http://warofillusions.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/harvard-gazette-report-on-tibetan-monks-who-can-heat-up-their-bodies-at-will/">Source</a>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34762839.post-11022076646930130092008-10-05T10:15:00.002-05:002008-10-05T10:19:26.790-05:00US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition'What does the rest of the world know that we don't? The United States Dollar is dead.<br /><br />While we are being jerked around by the mainstream media here at home, the rest of the world has already drawn the final conclusion for us, and what they are saying about us isn't pretty.<br /><br />We are in the middle of a crisis much larger than most Americans could imagine, a portion of America can't even handle it, for that matter. The Bailout was an awful idea, and the majority of Americans realized that. There is even a provision that would grant Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson dictatorial powers, and that is obviously insane, but here we are debating it. It's like asking a dead man whether he wants to be buried or cremated; it's a non issue and Congress is just playing a game to distract the American people. We need to move ahead, and we should begin with taking our country back from the tyrants.<br /><br />Hank Paulson has already taken control of the US banking system; journalist and expert economist Max Keiser compares Paulson to the 9/11 hijackers, calling him a financial terrorist. Keiser has been making his rounds on international broadcasts, including France 24 and Press TV where he compares the collapse of the US banking system to WTC 7 - "a controlled demolition."<br /><br /><a href=" www.thetruthseeker.co.uk">Source</a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sS65bA4kKVE&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sS65bA4kKVE&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Tyronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04538537450003771255noreply@blogger.com0